Not Applicable.
The present invention relates to automotive service equipment, and more particularly to the exchange of electronic data between an automotive service device interconnected via a local or global network such as the Internet to a remote computer system for the transfer of vehicle specifications or automotive service data therefrom, facilitating the service or repair of an automotive vehicle.
As described in co-pending U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/388,730 herein incorporated by reference, it is desirable that the general purpose computer associated with an automotive diagnostic system such as an automotive wheel alignment system, brake testing system, or vehicle wheel balancer to include an operating system that is fully compatible with local and global computer networks such as the Internet. Examples of such currently available operating systems include the Microsoft Windows(trademark) OS family of products and Palm Computing""s Palm operating system. Such systems are capable of running Internet browser software applications, examples of which include Microsoft""s Explorer or Netscape""s Communicator. Such an automotive diagnostic or wheel alignment system further should provide improved Internet integration of the automotive diagnostic or wheel alignment system when compared to conventional automotive diagnostic or wheel alignment systems. Conventional general purpose computers included in conventional systems often provide access to a network of computers (e.g., LAN) and to the Internet. However, conventional systems generally do not integrate the Internet into associated automotive service, maintenance, repair or inspection software, such as wheel alignment diagnostic software. Instead, the computer operates as would any other PC, configured to browse the Internet without fully integrating the Internet into the system software. Therefore, it is desirable to develop an automotive diagnostic system such as a wheel alignment or wheel balancer system that integrates local or global computer networks such as the Internet into the system software to provide a more efficient and accurate system than is currently available by facilitating access to, and acquisition of, the most current and up-to-date information available for use with the particular diagnostic routine being performed or vehicle undergoing service.
For example, in the vehicle alignment context, vehicle specifications include critical sets of data necessary for vehicle wheel alignment systems, such as manufacturer""s specifications, photographic data, instructional data, and service parts data. Traditionally, original vehicle specifications and updates or changes to existing vehicle specifications typically are disseminated to automotive service shops on a yearly basis. The specification and update information typically is stored on a hard drive, floppy disk, CD-ROM, microfilm, or in paper manuals. New vehicle specifications typically are available for wheel alignment systems in the fall to coincide with introduction of the new model year vehicles into the market. However, by the time the specifications and updates are purchased, delivered and installed so as to be accessible to a service or repair technician and implemented in the wheel alignment system, it is usually the spring of the following year (a four to six month lag). Moreover, Technical Service Bulletins (TSBs) often are issued by vehicle manufacturers during the year which change or update information included in the vehicle specifications. Such changes to such specifications and other pertinent information relating to specific vehicles often are not distributed to the automotive service shops until the following annual update of the specifications are released. This may result in a lag of several months in dissemination of critical information. Since the specifications, repair instructions and updates are provided as paper manuals or on microfilm, diskettes or CD-ROMs, further delay may result since the outdated data must be physically removed and replaced with the new data before it can be readily accessed by the technicians. Accordingly, repair and service technicians often are diagnosing and repairing vehicles based upon outdated, incomplete or inaccurate information. Furthermore, even once such information arrives at the service agency and is properly installed, the technician may not take the time to read and apply the revised data when diagnosing and servicing a vehicle.
Therefore, it is desirable to provide an automotive diagnostic system such as a vehicle wheel alignment system that allows for nearly instantaneous information access via a local or global computer network (e.g., the Internet) so that vehicle data sets such as current or new vehicle specifications, updates, and repair instructions can be readily accessed and utilized by service and repair technicians. A basic system for automatically updating static and dynamic files at a network node in response to instructions of an application program is set forth in U.S. Pat. No. 5,473,772 to Halliwell et al. The ""772 patent describes a data processing network in which specific and complicated control logic is utilized to coordinate the updating, creation, and deletion of files on a work station computer from a host computer. Similarly, U.S. Pat. No. 5,960,204 to Yinger et al. describes a system and method for automated installation of applications on a networked computer on an as needed basis. The ""204 Yinger et al. patent focuses on removing the need for user interaction from the installation process while simultaneously reducing the overhead cost of continually updating application files as newer versions become available.
In contrast, software stored in the general purpose computer should allow a simple automotive diagnostic system such as the vehicle wheel alignment system to connect to the Internet and download the latest, most accurate vehicle specifications provided by the vehicle manufacturers upon demand, or alternatively to facilitate the purchase of an entire set of updated vehicle specifications, as directed by a technician on an as needed basis. Other pertinent information such as Technical Service Bulletins, repair parts information, and pricing also should be readily accessible via the Internet to the technician operating the automotive wheel alignment system. Such Internet connectivity should be integrated into the diagnosis, service, maintenance, repair, and inspection processes so that access to this information requires no advance training or additional computer skill on the part of the service or repair technician. Such an automotive system allows for increased accuracy when diagnosing and servicing vehicles and for increased productivity of the system and technicians utilizing the system.
Among the several objects and advantages of the present invention are:
The provision of an improved vehicle wheel alignment system configured for communication with a remote computer system via a local or global network such as the Internet to receive automotive service data therefrom, as needed;
The provision of the aforementioned improved vehicle wheel alignment system wherein the system is further configured to receive a database of automotive service data from the remote computer system over the network, and to exchange purchase information with the remote computer system for access to the contents of the database;
The provision of the aforementioned improved vehicle wheel alignment system wherein the system is configured to receive and maintain a cryptographic key from the remote computer, the cryptographic key being associated with the vehicle wheel alignment system and providing access to the contents database of automotive service data;
The provision of the aforementioned improved vehicle wheel alignment system wherein the automotive service data received via the network includes vehicle wheel alignment specifications;
The provision of a method for updating reference data on a vehicle wheel alignment system computer, comprising the steps of identifying needed data, establishing a connection to a remote computer storing the needed data, requesting the needed data, receiving the needed data, and utilizing the received data;
The provision of the aforementioned method for updating reference data on a vehicle wheel alignment system wherein the received data is encrypted, and wherein a decryption key associated with the encrypted received data is provided to the vehicle wheel alignment system computer;
The provision of the aforementioned method for updating reference data on a vehicle wheel alignment system wherein the decryption key is additionally associated with subsequent encrypted data installed at the automotive service system;
The provision of an alternative embodiment of a vehicle wheel alignment system having a wheel alignment computer, a remote computer, and a communication system linking the wheel alignment computer and the remote computer, wherein the wheel alignment computer is configured to respond to user-input vehicle information to identify vehicle data needed from the remote computer, and the remote computer is configured to transfer a copy of that data to the wheel alignment computer over the communication system;
The provision of the aforementioned vehicle wheel alignment system wherein the identified vehicle data is updated vehicle data;
The provision of the aforementioned vehicle wheel alignment system wherein the identified vehicle data is new vehicle data;
The provision of the aforementioned vehicle wheel alignment system wherein the communication system is the Internet;
The provision of an alternative method for providing automotive service data to a vehicle wheel alignment system over a communications link including the steps of accessing an index of available automotive service data, selecting over the communications link, the desired automotive service data from the index, accessing the selected automotive service data over the communications link, and utilizing the accessed data at the vehicle wheel alignment system;
The provision of the aforementioned alternative method for providing automotive service data to a vehicle wheel alignment system wherein the communications link is the Internet;
The provision of the aforementioned alternative method for providing automotive service data to a vehicle wheel alignment system wherein the index accessed is a dynamically created web page on a web server;
The provision of the aforementioned alternative method for providing automotive service data to a vehicle wheel alignment system wherein automotive service data is selected by accessing a dynamically created web page containing the desired data;
The provision of the aforementioned alternative method for providing automotive service data to a vehicle wheel alignment system wherein the dynamically created web page containing the desired data is transferred to the vehicle wheel alignment system for storage and subsequent use;
The provision of the aforementioned alternative method for providing automotive service data to a vehicle wheel alignment system wherein the index is inaccessible without proper authorization and identification; and
An additional object of the present invention is to provide a host computer that is compatible with local and global computer information networks such as the Internet to allow for improved computer network integration of automotive diagnostic and service systems, for example, automotive wheel alignment systems, for and improved dissemination of automotive information.
Briefly stated, an embodiment of the apparatus of the present invention is of a wheel alignment system that includes at least one sensing device for acquiring automotive data, interface circuitry in communication with the sensing device for generating data representative of automotive data acquired by the sensing device, and a host computer in communication with the interface circuitry for performing a sequence of operations on data generated by the interface circuitry. The host computer provides integrated Internet access to allow for transmission to the vehicle wheel alignment system via the Internet of information necessary to accurately diagnose a vehicle. In the preferred embodiment, the host computer provides integrated Internet access to allow for transmission and receipt of information including, for example, current vehicle specification information data and current wheel alignment software. The current automotive data or vehicle specification information may be acquired either as part of a database of vehicle information purchased online, or may be individually transmitted to the host computer as a dynamically created web page containing all of the necessary vehicle information, repair instructions, parts identifiers, and digital imagery. In some embodiments of the present invention, the transmitted information is encrypted, and may only be accessed with the use of a separate decryption key associated with the encrypted data, which is purchased and received apart from the transmitted information.
As a method, the present invention involves updating, replacing, or adding vehicle reference data, service instructions, parts information and digital imagery to a vehicle wheel alignment system from a remote data storage and distribution computer or processor via a communications link such as the Internet. Upon the identification of a need for update, replacement, or new vehicle reference data, a connection is established between the vehicle wheel alignment system and a remote computer upon which current vehicle reference data is stored. The identified need is communicated to the remote computer, and the corresponding current vehicle reference data is returned, optionally in an encrypted format, for use and storage by the vehicle wheel alignment system.
Alternatively, as a method, the present invention embodies the utilization of internet-based communications by dynamically generating an index of available automotive vehicle data sets on a web server in response to a query from a vehicle wheel alignment system. Desired automotive vehicle data sets are accessed and transferred to the requesting vehicle wheel alignment system utilizing web-pages and web-transfer protocols such as HTML and XML upon the exchange and verification of appropriate identification or purchase information.
The foregoing and other objects, features, and advantages of the invention as well as presently preferred embodiments thereof will become more apparent from the reading of the following description in connection with the accompanying drawings.